Sites of inhibition of mitochondrial electron transport by rhein

The effect of rhein on the oxygen consumption, oxidative phosphorylation, ATPase activity and redox state of electron carriers of rat liver mitochondria has been studied. Rhein inhibits ADP- and uncoupler-stimulated respiration on various NAD-linked substrates and succinate, but stimulates state 4 respiration of mitochondria respiring on succinate. Experiments on specific segments of the respiratory chain showed that rhein does not inhibit electron flow through cytochrome oxidase. Electron flow through site 2, the ubiquinone-cytochrome b-cytochrome c1 complex, was also unaffected by rhein, which failed to inhibit the oxidation of duroquinol. Rhein affects oxidative phosphorylation by inhibiting both electron transfer and ADP-driven H+ uptake. The inhibition of succinate oxidation by rhein was found to take place at a point between succinate and ubiquinone, perhaps at the level of succinic dehydrogenase. Spectroscopic evidence demonstrated that rhein induces a NAD(P)H oxidation in mitochondria respiring either on endogenous substrates or on glutamate + malate, and an inhibition of the cytochrome b reduction by succinate. These observations, together with other evidence, suggest that rhein inhibits electron transport in rat liver mitochondria at the dehydrogenase-coenzyme level, particularly when the electron carriers are in a relatively oxidized state and/or when the inner membrane-matrix compartment is in the condensed state.